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Authors: Susan Green,Randee Dawn

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Law & Order
franchise creator Dick Wolf and Mariska Hargitay at the 2005 Emmys
From l.-r.: Richard Belzer, producer David DeClerque, and Ice-T
Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay going “undercover”
From l.-r.: Jesse L. Martin (Det. Ed Green), Jerry Orbach (Det. Lennie Briscoe), Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer, and Christopher Meloni in season one’s “Entitled”
SVU
Viewing Party, season one. From l.-r.: Bill Butler, Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Sherman Meloni, Richard Belzer, Dann Florek
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE NERVE CENTER
S
trangely, I’m the most senior member of the production office (staff),” reports Mike Ciliento, a former NBC page who’s been with
SVU
since 2004 and now coordinates scripts, clearances, and publicity, among other responsibilities.
People who came before him in the show’s hectic nucleus have either moved up or moved out due to the killer pace. “The toughest thing here is the quick turnaround,” he says. “Movies have months of pre-production; we usually get seven days.”
He hung in, progressing from a production assistant to “a position with script coordination duties that took on more and more responsibility. I now coordinate scripts with the West Coast and New York. I’m a research assistant for the writers. I work on publicity and award submissions. And I maintain the
SVU
site on the network’s blog.”
There are moments when all of
SVU
appears to converge on him at once. “Everybody wants information as soon as possible and (we’re waiting for) the scripts to come from the West Coast,” Ciliento says. “It’s crazy. If you don’t date someone within the industry, you’ll never see them. But we’re like a family—and like your grade school!”
Mike Ciliento and Meredith Petty
Mike Ciliento and Meredith Petty
Somehow, the young man’s equanimity never seems to waver. “I’m good at problem solving,” he contends, adding that the executive producers often rely on his techno-savvy. “It’s nice to be appreciated.”
Whenever shooting on location goes haywire, Ciliento is part of the mix trying to make things right: “On an episode (‘Night,’ season six) about skateboarders who find a trail of money, we had to keep clearing the set of snow during a blizzard. It was around Christmas-time. One of those mayhem things.”
To make matters worse, he says, “Ted Kotcheff came in from L.A. and his plane landed in six feet of snow. We check the weather hour by hour. The wardrobe department keeps backup outfits if it’s raining. When I watch the show, I’m remembering everything that went into it.”
Production office coordinator Faith Brooks holds down the fort. “Mike works closely with the writers and goes over timing with the script supervisor,” she says. “I’m responsible for equipment rentals, insurance certification, films stock, camera batteries. I do a lot of juggling and troubleshooting.”
What kind of trouble? “Getting lifts to a location during a snow-storm,” she explains. “It took four hours. And after all that, they never made it into the episode. Another time the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down and the cast stranded on the other side. Or that day when the water main broke on the set.”
On a normal day, Brooks creates “production reports—what scenes were shot, page counts, crew times, what actors are coming in. That’s for the studio. . . . I send them the script supervisor’s notes, the sound roll, the film. They later stream it all back to us. We get the dailies cut, the broadcast version. We are the liaison. This is a clearinghouse.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
GOOD GRUB
N
apoleon Bonaparte supposedly once proclaimed that, “An army marches on its stomach.” Two centuries later, that has become a sort of mantra for
SVU
, where the eats are abundant, tasty, and available at all hours of the day and night.
Lisa Brown has been making sure the troops are well-fed since four months into the first season. Shooting Stars Catering, which she owns with husband Brian, is the prime source of nourishment for both
SVU
and
CI
.
“I serve three entrees,” Brown says of her daily meat, fish, and poultry lunch options. “Most caterers do only two. Also, we always have two starches and two vegetables.”
And then there are her specialties. “If I don’t make chicken cutlets and meatballs for a while, they ask for them,” she points out. “(Episode director) Peter Leto will tell me, ‘I have to have a chicken cutlet.’ And everybody wants a Mexican day.”
Ole!
In addition, Brown provides “crafts service” (the multitudinous snacks and beverages available throughout the day on any movie or TV set) and hot meals when shooting continues late into the night.
“All the delicious food Lisa makes for us is not cheap,” notes cost-conscious unit production manager Gail Barringer. “But I just leave that alone because keeping (cast and crew) fed keeps them happy.”
The cooking takes place in trucks that are able to travel to locations. “We have two ovens, six burners, nine refrigerators, and three sinks,” Brown explains.
Waistline consciousness is a factor at times. “Right after New Year’s, I know to buy more egg whites,” she says. “Come January, everyone makes resolutions. By February, they’re back to the way it was.”
And other holidays tend to guide the menu. “Around Thanksgiving, I serve sweet potatoes and turkey. For St. Patty’s day, it’s corned beef and cabbage.”
Some people appreciate her gourmet skills. “Chris (Meloni) loves fresh tuna seared with wasabi sauce,” Brown notes. “Mariska (Hargitay) eats real healthy. Ice-T? Whatever’s there, he’s happy. He’ll eat anything as long as there’s meat. I am really blessed with a very nice cast and crew.”
She also probably qualifies as a workaholic. “I have to be there three or four hours before the crew, so I often have to leave my house at 2 or 2:30 in the morning. I stay until lunch is over—and lunch can be at 4:40 P.M. or later—then two to three hours more. I’m always a-movin’ and a-groovin’.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GOOD LOOKS
T
o capture the realism that gives
SVU
its primetime punch, the performers have to accept people constantly fussing over them. A brigade of hair, makeup, and wardrobe specialists must be available at the start of each workday and for as long the cameras are rolling.
Whether at the New Jersey soundstage or in a trailer on location, these wizards of physiognomy ensure that the mere mortals in their care come across as enduring TV characters.
Rebecca Perkins, head of the makeup department, and Brian Badie, her counterpart for hair, share a cramped room also frequented by their respective staffs along one of the winding
SVU
New Jersey hallways. It’s where they tend to the regular cast and guest stars.
“We’ve got five chairs in here and they’re full all day,” explains Badie, who joined
SVU
in season nine. “We switch (the actors) between hair and makeup.”
Perkins, on board the show since the end of season five, points out that “Chris and Mariska often have to be ready first thing in the morning . . . And one of our team will always go to the set when they’re shooting.”
Indeed, stylists armed with powder, blush, spray, combs, and such gather behind the director until he stops the action, then swarm over to the players to check their faces, coifs, and clothing. The person from costumes can usually be identified by the collection of safety pins dangling from her belt—presumably for any sudden wardrobe malfunctions.
Perkins and her helpers generally lavish more attention on Hargitay, especially before the day’s emoting begins. “Mariska has to look like she’s a cop, but she’s a beautiful woman. We decided never to get in the way of that. I usually spend a half-hour on her. Chris? Seven minutes.”
For Badie, the time frame is almost reversed. “Mariska’s hair has to fit with her bone structure. It looks best medium length. She likes it long. . . . When I cut, Chris’ hair takes the longest time. I’m really particular. I ask him for a half-hour. Mariska’s more like twenty minutes, max.”
As for the other two detectives, Badie says Ice-T’s previously long locks were independently shorn in season nine—“He did that on his own.”—and Richard Belzer “is really into the textured look for hair.”
BOOK: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Unofficial Companion
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